Notable Elements Characteristic vernacular center-chimney timber-frame house that evolved in several stages [History & Frame] Freehand and stencil painted walls at second-storey chamber, ca. 1800-20 [Interior] Ambitious Georgian-style finishes in best rooms [Interior] Brick nogging and evidence of back plaster [Frame] Complex evolution of central chimney [Interior] History The Sarah Clayes House is an exceptionally fine example of a center-chimney, timber-frame house, the region’s most distinctive and widespread building type until the mid-nineteenth century.  Although long believed by local historians to have been built in the 1690s for Peter Clayes shortly after he and his family fled the witchcraft trials in Salem, Massachusetts, the house contains no physical evidence to support such an early date. It seems likely that Clayes may have built his house elsewhere on the property, or that a portion of the present cellar may be related to an earlier house on the site.  Based upon physical evidence and changes of ownership in the property, it is likely that the present house was constructed in the third quarter of the eighteenth century, perhaps in the 1760s or 1770s.  The house may have been built for Clayes’s son-in-law John Parker (1703-83) during his ownership of the property (1734-1776), or, more likely, for Colonel David Brewer (1751-1834) who owned the property from 1776 until his death. The Clayes House passed through a number of owners in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries and remained occupied until the late 1990s, after which it was sold at a bank-ordered auction, but conveyance could not be made due to defective title.  The building remained unoccupied and in limbo until 2015 when it was conveyed to Land Conservation Advocacy Trust  for preservation. Date 1770; 1790-1820; 1840-60; 1880s Builder/Architect Unknown Building Type Central-chimney timber-frame, single-family house The house has a complicated evolution that exemplifies regional patterns of vernacular architecture during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.  As initially constructed, the house was composed of its main block, a simple rectangle with no wings or ells, enclosed by a lean-to roof (also known colloquially as a “saltbox” roof) which allowed full-height chambers at the second storey of the east (front) half of the building, while the western half of the second storey contained low rooms beneath the roof.  A partial cellar existed under the northeast parlor and, perhaps also under the southeast parlor, but the area beneath the lean-to part of the house was merely an unexcavated crawl space.  Around the turn-of-the-century (ca. 1790-1820), the lean-to roof was removed, a full second storey built in its place and the present roof was constructed, retaining some of the original roof framing at the east slope of the roof.  A full cellar was excavated beneath the house.  Simultaneously, or soon after this enlargement, a two-storey rear ell with a full cellar was added to the north end of the original house’s rear (west) wall.  This ell was of timber-frame construction but had a brick end wall (west) into which was built a large working hearth, possibly containing set kettles that have since been removed. Subsequent additions in the mid- and late nineteenth century extended the house back toward a barn, with space possibly used for resident farm hands between the old rear ell and barn.  Documentation presented here focuses on the original house and first ell which contain the largest proportion of historic features and traditional building materials. Foundation Dry-laid granite fieldstone and rubble pointed with some lime mortar on the interior: The original cellar may only have consisted of one room under the northeast parlor, or possibly under the eastern half of the house with a crawl space beneath the lean-to portion of the main house.  The cellar beneath the original house was probably fully excavated when the rear ell was constructed (ca. 1790-1820).  It appears that west wall of the original cellar was left in position, its east face partially daubed with lime mortar, while its west face consists of exposed fieldstone battered inward from a wider base to a narrower top on which a timber rests.  This practice of building cellar walls with a battered face set toward the dirt was common practice to provide greater resistance to the pressure of soil around the foundation. Frame Oak timber frame:  The original frame appears to be made nearly entirely of oak with squared posts, summers, girts, and plates that are cased or concealed by finish plaster.  Where visible, none of these structural elements have moulded edges or whitewash coatings, indicating that they were probably never exposed to view.  At the attic, the original frame of the east slope of the roof remains in position with a five-sided ridge pole (5” per face) into which rafters (3” x 4” to 3½” x 5” variable) were set with pinned mortise-and-tenon joints; front and rear rafters were directly aligned with each other.  Joints preserve their assembly numbers, which include a mixed system of Roman numerals and marks that take the place of numerals.  Numbers rise from south to north.  Between numerals VIII and X is an irregular symbol that, presumably stands for IX.  At each end, the original roof has angle braces joined into the ridge and end rafters; toward the center of the frame, additional angle braces existed at rafters on either side of the central chimney, which rose through the back (western) half of the ridge pole.  A second numbering system for attic floor joists is partially visible on the top of the rear wall plate where small numerals II, III, and IIII mark the pockets for joists; the numbers rise from north to south, opposite to the direction of the rafter numbering system. The two-storey rear ell was also heavily framed with a central summer beam (8” x 11”) extending its length at first and second storeys, 7” x 7” plates and a 7” x 9” chimney girt.  3” x 4” studs were set at variable intervals of 11” to 18” along the ell’s north and south walls.  The second-storey walls preserve original studs and brick … Continue reading 1770 – Framingham, MA – 657 Salem End Road – Sarah Clayes House